Sorry that I have not updated in awhile. I was busy with College exams and then getting fired from my job was a downer for me, until I got a new one. Now that I am out of College and wont be doing summer classes, I might be able to update faster, cause ya'll know that I need to. LOL.
Thanks to all who reviewed Chapter 2!
Umbrella-EllaBe careful, if the reviews dont come in like i want them to, I WILL put this story on HIATUS and WILL NOT UPDATE!
Chapter 3- Talking
As the cab driver pulled up to the Palms entrance, Calleigh could still see the bell man standing at the door. She thanked the driver and paid him the money that was owed to him for the ride. Exiting the cab, she closed the door and walked to the door of the hotel. Smiling at the bell man, she stepped through the door and into the hotel.
Walking to the elevator, she pressed the button that indicates she wants to go up. As Calleigh waits for the elevator to arrive, she was greeted with a pull to her pant leg. Looking down, she saw a little girl about five years old looking up at her. She kneeled down to the girls height and smiled at her. The little girl had something else on her mind besides being smiled at.
"You are pretty" the little girl told Calleigh, "I like your hair. I wan mine like yours" she also told Calleigh, touching Calleigh's blonde strands and comparing it to her own strawberry blonde one.
"Well, I like your hair" Calleigh complemented the little girl, "So sweetheart, where are your parents?" she asked, wondering who would let this little girl walk around alone
"My mommy owns this hotel and more over at the other places" the little girl told Calleigh, "I'm with my big sister"
As people kept moving in and out of the elevator, coming and going, Calleigh knew that they were both in the way. She looked around, keeping herself kneeled at the little girls level. Watching as a young couple removed themselves from a bench, she then went back to interacting with the little girl in front of her.
"Who is your mommy, Sweetheart, and what is your name?" Calleigh asked, taking the little girls hand, and getting up from her position on the floor and walking to the benches.
"My mommy is named Catherine and my name is Lily", she informed Calleigh, who gently picked her up and placed her on the seat beside her. Lily, she just giggled at Calleigh.
"Lily Ann Grissom!" yelled another strawberry blonde woman as she walked towards were Calleigh and Lily were sitting. Calleigh looked down at Lily, wondering who this other woman was.
"That my sissy, she crasy" the five-year-old girl told Calleigh as she laughed at her own saying of her sister.
The other strawberry blonde woman stopped right in front of the bench that Calleigh and Lily were sitting on. Calleigh watched as Lily laughed at her sister, but the sister wasn't too proud of Lily. The older sister continued to look at Lily, trying to give her some sort of mad looking face, but she couldn't stay mad at her little sister.
"Lily, what have I told you about walking away from me?" the older sister asked, waiting for the explanation from the five-year-old.
"I walked away 'cause I sawed her!" Lily informed her sister as she pointed to Calleigh, "Pictur!"
The bigger sister looked at Calleigh, then to her little sister and back to Calleigh. It took her a few minutes to understand what her sister was telling her until it clicked in her mind. Miami!
"Calleigh..", asked the older sister "..is that you?"
Looking to the standing woman, Calleigh nodded her head and was going to ask how she knew her by name, but the young adult woman beat her to it.
"Lindsay Willows...well Grissom now" she informed Calleigh, "You worked with my mom on a case one time in Miami, the young child had lost both her mom and dad.."
.....Catherine Willows!
"You're the daughter of Catherine Willows?" Calleigh asked Lindsay
"Was Catherine Willows, it's Grissom now" Lindsay informed Calleigh, "She married Gil last year"
Calleigh looked at Lily and calculated that Catherine must have been pregnant with this little one way before her and Gil got married. She looked at Lindsay and all the young woman could do was smile and nod her head.
"I know what you are thinking Cal, and yes, my mom got pregnant almost four years earlier. They were just dating for a couple of months and didn't want the lab to know, but when my mom fell pregnant with Lily, they couldn't hide it any longer and told the lab" she informed Calleigh, "They were happy, and my dad wanted to marry my mom right then and there, but she told him no, she wanted to wait until Lily was born"
"Wait..Dad?, I thought that Gil was your step-dad?" Calleigh asked, sort of lost in translation, or conversation it was, being that Lily was touching her hair
"Oh, he is, but I knew him since I was little and he has been more of a father to me than my actual one was" Lindsay told Calleigh, "I call him dad instead of his name" she said, smiling at the memory of when Gil first heard those words come out of her mouth last year, "You should have seen his face when he heard those words uttered from my mouth"
"Daddy smiled...and cry!" Lily spoke to the two women, "Mommy cry too!" she said before continuing to stroke Calleigh's hair.
"Yeah, they both did." Looking down to her watch, she noticed the time, "Listen, Cal, I need to get Lily home. The only reason we came here was to check the safe out and make sure that everything was in order for the money deposit tomorrow, but I will tell my mom and dad that I saw you. Are you going to the conference?" she asked Calleigh, wondering if she will see her later on in the week
"I'm not, I'm here with Horatio, he was the one invited to come and he then invited me to join him", Calleigh informed Lindsay
"Well, they are going to the conference, but if you go, you might see them." Looking at her watch once more, she grabbed Lily, lightly, and held her hand while still talking to Calleigh. "We need to go meet them at the Bellagio Hotel before going home"
"Ok, I will or might see you later?"
"Sure will" Lindsay said to Calleigh as both her and Lily waved and walked to the entrance and out the door a few seconds later.
Getting up from the bench that she is sitting on, Calleigh walked back to the elevator and once again pressed the button. Hearing the 'ding' and watching as the doors opened, she smiled to the couple inside the metal box as she entered. Pressing the button for her floor, she waited for the doors to close and the movement to start and a few seconds later it did, indicating they were rising.
Keeping her eyes forward, Calleigh couldn't help but hear the conversation that the couple was having, like she couldn't listen in, they were in a confined space. Watching the numbers rise, she wondered what floor the couple were on, but before she could finish her thoughts, the elevator stopped and the couple behind her came forward.
As they exited the elevator, the young man turned towards Calleigh and spoke to her in a very un gentleman like way, wanting to know if she would like to join him and his girlfriend for a little..'fun'. As this was going on, his girlfriend was snickering beside him.
The doors were closing, but the boy placed his arm to stop them, just so he could continue playing with Calleigh. Calleigh, not in the mood to deal with a teen like him, went into her purse and pulled out her badge and showed it to both of the adults. Their eyes grew wide and their grins faded from their face.
"I would keep my mouth shut if I were you sweet pea and keep walking" Calleigh told the young man, watching his mouth open and close in a nervous way
"Were sorry ma'am, I didn't mean to offend you, I apologize and I promise that it will never happen again" he told Calleigh
"See to it that it doesn't, or I will come to you and your girlfriend first" Calleigh threatened as the doors closed and rose once more
Putting her badge away, she rolled her eyes and went back to watching the numbers rise once more.
Upon entering the hotel room, Calleigh placed her purse on the side table, as well as the room key, and went to the living area. When she entered this area, she saw Horatio sitting on one of the couches as he watched television.
"Sorry that I am late, I ran into Catherine's daughters and we talked for a few minutes, then on the way up, I got held up by a couple that wanted to have me join them in a little fun time." Calleigh told Horatio as she removed her sandals and sat down on the couch a few inches away from him. "I would have been here sooner if the elevator incident didn't happen"
"It's not your fault" Horatio said, turning off the television set and moving to his side so that he faced her, "I didn't think that you would show up, honestly"
"Well, I do share this room with you so I had to come back sooner or later" Calleigh joked with him, "But on a serious note, you were right to want to talk with me because I too wanted to talk with you"
"I'm sorry about everything; about not being there when you needed me the most; the hospital and your abduction" Horatio apologized to Calleigh, asking for her forgiveness, "I should have been there for you"
"Horatio, that is the past and even though it is true that we should have been there for one another, that is the past and we can't change it. I am looking towards the future and hoping that we can fix the mistakes that we have done and go back to the way we once were" Calleigh told her boss, who at this time is becoming something much more to her
Horatio took Calleigh's hand in his and started to rub the top of it with his thumb. Her hand was smooth compared to his callused one, but both hands fit perfectly into the others. He looked down and then back to the blonde in front of him and smiled. He wanted to work hard so that he can be the man he wants to be for her.
"I will try harder, I really want to get our relationship back in order" Horatio promised Calleigh, "I want to get to know you better as well"
"Well Handsome, you already know more about me that everyone else, including my past boyfriends" Calleigh smiled
"That is what I want to see"
"What?" questioned Calleigh, removing her hand from his and placing it on her face, like she has something on it.
When her hand was removed from his, Horatio felt cold. He didn't like it one bit, he loved the feel of her hand in his. He had to have that hand in his. Once again he grabbed her hand and placed one in her lap while he took hold of the other. He looked at her and saw confusion in her eyes.
When they first touched hands, Calleigh's heart raced, and she knew exactly why. She only hoped that he couldn't feel it when he touched her hand. She was not yet ready to tell him how she felt, fearing that he didn't feel the way she felt and fearing that if they were together, it wouldn't work out.
Now, when he looked at her, she could melt, he had the most caring face and she knew that he would never hurt her. She feared the she would hurt him, she was not that great with having a boyfriend, let alone a long term one. When she smiled at him, he too smiled back and told her he wanted to see that more often and her being in the clouds, well she didn't know what he was talking about and removed her hands from his.
She feared that something was on her face, but his hands touching hers once again, gently removing them from her face and placing one on her lap and the other in his hands was confusing to her, well until he spoke up.
"There is nothing wrong with your face, I was talking about your smile, Calleigh" informing the woman sitting next to him, "I love your smile and I have missed it around the lab"
"So sweet, Horatio" she told the man located next to her, touching his cheek with her free hand before removing it, " I love your protectiveness, whoever knows you or is fortunate enough to date you is lucky enough to have you in their lives" she told him, squeezing his hand in hers, "I know that I am lucky to know you" and even love you she thought
Neither knew about the others feeling towards the other, but then again, who would want to be the first to say those three words when they are trying to start their relationship over again. Neither had plans for what fate would bring them in the next couple days, but then again, fate didn't really have plans for them either.
Two human beings did, with a little help from their friends..
They just hoped that their plan works out...
TBC
